Innovation News

Princeton, NJ - Agile Therapeutics, Inc., a women’s health specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new prescription contraceptive products, announces that it has entered into a loan and security agreement with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. for a term loan of up to $25 million.

“This strategic debt refinancing, coupled with our recently announced equity financing that resulted in $20 million in gross proceeds, increases our balance sheet strength and ensures that we are well positioned for executing on our strategy,” stated Al Altomari, President and Chief Executive Officer of Agile. Mr. Altomari continued, “We expect that our existing estimated cash on hand as of December 31, 2015, the net proceeds from our recent equity offering, and the net proceeds and interest-only period associated with the first tranche of our debt facility will allow us to fund our operations through the end of 2016. We are pleased to have the support from Hercules, which is a highly recognized leader in growth financing.”A first tranche of $16.5 million was funded upon execution of the loan agreement, approximately $15.5 million of which will be used to repay Agile’s existing term loan facility and the remainder, after closing costs, will provide additional working capital for general corporate purposes. Agile is permitted to make interest only payments on the loan until July 1, 2016, which period may be extended under certain circumstances. Under the terms of the loan agreement, Agile may, but is not obligated to, draw an additional tranche of up to $8.5 million prior to July 1, 2016, subject to the achievement of certain clinical milestones, which may be extended to December 31, 2016 under certain circumstances.In connection with the loan agreement, Agile issued Hercules a warrant to purchase 180,274 shares of Agile common stock at an exercise price of $5.89 per share and granted Hercules the right to participate in future equity financings in an amount up to $2 million while the loan and warrant are outstanding.Armentum Partners served as advisor to the Company for this financing.Armentum has advised on more than 40 debt or royalty transactions in the past 12 months representing roughly $1 billion in committed capital.The Company is also providing an update on the status of its Phase 3 SECURE Study, a single-arm, open-label, multicenter Phase 3 trial that will assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the its investigational once-weekly transdermal contraceptive patch, Twirla(R) (AG200-15). While the patient recruitment process continues to progress, enrollment in recent weeks has been slower than previously anticipated. The Company now expects to complete enrollment in the third quarter of 2015. “We are pleased with the significant progress that has been made in the clinic so far,” said Al Altomari. He continued, “We have a rigorous patient selection process in place that comprises several important steps from screening to enrollment. We have also implemented measures to optimize patient compliance and continuation in the study. As we work toward completing enrollment of our SECURE study, we will continue to remain focused on identifying qualified patients and maintaining close oversight of the trial.”